Chapter 39
Over the next few weeks, Ji-Su spent most nights on the ranch.
Raul was true to his word and made sure that there was no possible way for Cedric to get close to him again.
If he so much as stepped foot off the porch, a bodyguard accompanied him.
When he did go into the city, he was heavily guarded.
Ji-Su was relieved he didn’t have to worry about Cedric hurting him.
But he couldn’t live under such tight security forever.
One of the few places he went was to the casino since the gaming tournament hosted by the Grand Colorado was coming up in a few days.
As the event drew closer, he helped Elaine with last minute preparations.
He also filmed social media content and did several live streams to build awareness and interest in the event.
A whole lot of planning had gone into the project and Ji-Su hoped it would be a success.
Ji-Su arrived at the casino on the first day of the tournament.
The main ballroom where the event was being held was packed with people.
Multiple big-name gamers were in town to compete and lots of their followers had come to watch them.
Up and coming gamers hoping to gain experience and build their reputations in the gaming community were also in attendance.
Cosplayers and streamers moved through the crowd, taking pictures with fans and filming live content.
The physical set up for the tournament was impressive.
Four long rows of gaming stations took up the center of the large room.
A player was seated at each one and most had a few people standing behind them to watch and cheer them on.
About a dozen merch booths took up the left side of the ballroom with vendors selling everything from gaming accessories to fan art.
While on the right, several game developers had elaborate demo displays for their new games.
A large stage had been constructed in the back of the ballroom.
It was big enough to hold three gaming stations that were each connected to a big screen TV.
The TVs served as second monitors and made it possible for fans to view their game play from multiple spots in the ballroom.
Plus, there was plenty of room to spare for special guests to sit on stage and watch up close.
Only the top ranked players were invited to play on the main stage.
They rotated on and off in hourly slots, which gave their fans multiple chances to see them throughout the weekend.
There was one additional monitor connected to the social media manager’s laptop. It was used solely to display the social media feeds for the event. The tournament was active on several social media platforms thanks to the influencers streaming live and the casino’s social media team.
The space was loud and buzzing with good energy and Ji-Su was excited to be in the middle of it.
He took pictures with his fans, played a few exhibition games, and even met with possible sponsors for his channel.
It was fun watching the fast-paced play and cheering on the competitors.
His only regret was that he couldn’t enter the tournament himself since he was affiliated with the event.
Sunday night marked the end of the tournament. The team competitions and lower-level brackets had ended earlier that day and the winners had all received their prizes. Now they were down to the final event—the top-level solo bracket for Delta Combat Force.
Three finalists sat at the gaming stations on the main stage, their game play shown on the large screens behind them.
They were all hyper focused, eyes locked on their monitors and hands tightly gripping their controllers as they executed their strategies.
On the far side of the stage, the fourth screen showed the posts in the tournament’s tag on social media.
It was filled with comments expressing both admiration and dismay as the rounds went on, plus guesses as to who would ultimately win.
The crowd watching live in the ballroom was just as invested. Now that the other levels were finished, everyone had gathered in front of the main stage to watch the finalists compete. Big moves brought cheers or groans— depending on who the audience member was there to support.
Ji-Su sat in a prime viewing spot, in a chair on the side of the stage next to the tournament host. He was out of the way but still visible to the crowd.
Ji-Su admired all three players for making it this far in a tough competition.
The young woman in the center was his favorite and he hoped she would pull off the win.
Raul arrived five minutes into the final round, walking up to stand behind Ji-Su’s chair. He put his hands on the armrests and leaned down to speak into his ear.
“This is fantastic, sweetheart. The turnout is great, which had a nice effect on room reservations and restaurant sales. And so far, everything has gone off without a hitch.”
“Elaine and her team did an amazing job organizing it,” Ji-Su said.
“And your assistance was invaluable.”
Ji-Su blushed at the compliment. “Thank you. I don’t think event organizing as a career is in my future, but I really enjoyed working on the project.
” He was glad he’d been able to help. He would never be able to pay back the million dollars Raul had paid to Cedric to get him out of his contract.
But hopefully the profit from the tournament would make up for it in some way.
“Their play is impressive,” Raul said after a few minutes of watching. “And to think they can move their thumbs that fast without vampire speed.”
Ji-Su laughed. “Maybe next year you can have a vampire only category. Then we’ll really see how fast people can play.” He expected Raul to laugh and joke with him. But he didn’t. Instead, Raul asked a question in a husky whisper, lips softly brushing Ji-Su’s ear as he spoke.
“If I do this tournament next year, will you be here to help organize it?”
His eyes wide with surprise, Ji-Su twisted in his chair to look at Raul.
“I—.” He started to ask what Raul meant by that question, but before he could finish his sentence, the crowd erupted into cheers.
Feeling like he was giving himself whiplash, Ji-Su turned back around to see what he’d missed.
The game was over and his pick had won. The host sprang up from his chair and jogged across the stage to raise her hand in victory.
Raul squeezed Ji-Su’s shoulder, stealing his attention again.
“We’ll talk about it at home tonight,” he said before he walked over to congratulate the winners.
Ji-Su’s stomach flipped. He didn’t want to assume that Raul’s question was about him being there for their personal relationship.
But it wasn’t necessary for him to come back next year just for the tournament.
Sure, he’d helped a lot, but Elanie knew the ropes after putting on this first event.
And she could easily find someone else in gaming to assist her now that she’d made so many contacts.
Raul had to be referring to him staying for another blood pet contract. Or even staying without the contract.
Ji-Su smiled, but it had nothing to do with the celebration going on in front of him.
He was happy at the thought of staying with Raul for another year.
His answer would absolutely be yes when they talked about it later tonight.
That conversation wouldn’t happen for several hours however, so he reined in his giddiness to focus on the victory ceremony.
He watched as Raul shook hands and took pictures with the two runner ups. They each received a check for ten thousand dollars along with a basket of big-ticket items from the tournament sponsors. The host called for a final round of applause for the runners-up before they were escorted off stage.
After a brief moment of quiet, celebratory music boomed from the speakers and a heavy shower of red and gold confetti fell from the ceiling.
The winner stepped to center stage and waved to the crowd with a huge smile on her face.
While everyone was cheering, two casino staff members approached, carrying one of those giant prop checks between them.
It was made out for a staggering fifty-thousand dollars.
Raul held up his hand for them to stop as he accepted the mic from the host to offer his own congratulations.
“On behalf of the Grand Casino, I congratulate you on winning our first Delta Force Combat tournament and present you with this fifty-thousand-dollar prize.”
Next, the DCF representative offered his congrats.
Once he finished, Raul nodded at the two staff members and they passed her the check which she eagerly accepted.
She’d also won a long list of gifts from the sponsors and an all-inclusive stay at the Grand Colorado.
Holding the check over her head, the winner jumped up and down while the crowd cheered and whistled.
She’d stopped jumping in order to pose for pictures with Raul and the DCF rep when a shout came from the audience.
“Oh my God!”
Alarmed, Ji-Su searched the crowd, trying to find what had made someone yell like that.
But there was nothing happening in the audience.
Instead, people were pointing and staring at one of the monitors before turning to look at Ji-Su.
Some of their expressions were filled with disgust. Others looked shocked. And more than a few were laughing.
Confused as to why he was getting those reactions when he was doing nothing more than sitting there, Ji-Su looked at the screens. Three of them were still paused on the Game Over card. However, when he saw what was on the screen dedicated to social media, the bottom dropped out of his stomach.
Someone was spamming the tournament tag with lewd pictures of a naked young man posing on a bed covered in white sheets.
The young man posed bent over with his ass pointed at the camera.
On his back with his legs in the air and spread into a V.
Kneeling with one hand wrapped around his dick.
Picture after picture flooded the tag. And every single one of them had his face.